IS IT HARD TO SELL A QUILT?

A FRIEND ASKED ME LAST NIGHT...Is it hard to sell a quilt?

My first reaction was Well yes its hard to SELL a quilt. People do not understand how much time effort and expense go into the making of a quilt....so its very hard to get the money that its worth for a quilt. Quilting has to be one of the most labour intensive arts there are. Fabric costs a lot of money. and time is money they say... so it costs a lot of money to make a quilt..and a lot of money to sell a quilt and get that money back..and make some money for the artistic and creative aspect of the art. Is there ever enough money to have to pay for the hours that you spend in the making of any art.

Calendar 2014

I sold this quilt. Its a calendar that I made in 2014. I made one block a day. marking time in fabric. It was in a show and was purchased by someone..I don't know who bought it or where it's gone but I am so honoured that someone liked it well enough to pay money for it and I hope they had a good spot to hang it.
In my head I have a picture of it hanging in a long hallway or maybe at the top of the stairs. Its colourful and interesting and I hope that the owner appreciated it. I think they do.

And then I realized that my friend was asking.  Is it hard to sell a QUILT? Is it hard to let it go? Is it hard to let go of something that you have spent so much time and labour making? Maybe.. maybe its hard to let it go into a new world where they might not really know why that quilt was made and appreciate all of the little decisions that made that quilt appear. Decisions about fabric choice and colour representations. Why you chose to do what you did when you made the quilt.

Is it hard to let it go? For money?

Calendar 2015

How long did it take you to make this quilt is a question that comes up frequently. And the answer is difficult. Sometimes a quilt takes a very long time from conception to completion. A deadline helps.

Well this one took a year--its a calendar representation of one year in my life...one block a day ..every day ..for a year.  That's a commitment that I didn't know I could keep. I am not a committed person.  I don't like to do the same thing at the same time every day. I am easily bored with routine.and I committed to making one block a day..every day for a year.

And I did it again.

And the third time I tried to start another one I failed. In January 2016 I decided not to start another one. I just didn't think I wanted to do it. Then in late June I decided that I would try again. It really doesn't matter when you start. So I started on July 1.and I worked for about a month and a half on my new project but I just really didn't enjoy doing it and I abandoned it mid August.

So now we are coming to the end of another year. I think I am ready for another year long commitment. I am going to start another calendar quilt.

 These are my rules.
 Fabrics from my stash..that's a given. I have lots and lots of fabirc in my stash.
one block a day..every day..no going ahead..or falling behind..one a day...
I think that I  will alter the layout a bit this year. I would like it to be more bedshaped ..I am not sure yet how I will arrange the block but I think it will work out.

For the other two calendar quilts I stitched the blocks together by month,,but I don't think I will do it that way this time.. and I stitched them together as I made them. I will do that for sure. I don't want to be left with a huge bag of blocks that need to be assembled at the end of the year.
And maybe I won't stop at the end of the year..maybe. I am leaving the finish date open. I might keep going for a little longer. (Ahhhh such optimism at the beginning of a big project)

Wish me luck.

Off with Her Head!!l

I  am having a tea party to celebrate the birthday of  the late Lewis Carroll, of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass fame.

Charles L. Dodson was his real name. All stories about him tell of a very shy, mild mannered man who stuttered when he spoke, but obviously had a vivid imagination which enabled him to write these astonishing stories. I never really thought that the Alice in Wonderland books were children's books. They seem to have so many layers that can be fully appreciated by adults.  Alice Liddell, was the daughter of a family friend and she and her sisters were entertained by Mr. Dodson's exciting and inventive stories.

Do we still use our imagination or have we become so inundated with facts and information that we don't even know how to wonder? Are we encouraged to dream? Do we ever just fall down the rabbit hole? on purpose, without a safety net? 

We probably could just send a scope down the rabbit hole and have a clear vision of everything there.

I made this quilt several years ago in answer to a challenge in our quilting group. The challenge was _______time. So the quilt is called coffee time-I don't drink tea.

I used hand dyed fabrics and commercial fabrics. I like to add black and white to most of my work. It gives the eye a spot to rest.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Karen